First Grad School Class!

Bry and I recently finished our very first grad school class!!! It was hard work but we pulled it off! Here are Bry's grades. We had different "mentors" for our classes. Her mentor couldn't be satisfied by anything.

The first activity was a discussion post.  We were supposed to write about ourselves and why we had made the decision to join grad school.  We had to mention our previous schooling and background, and mention where we were in our life now.  The thing was, we were supposed to do it in 150-200 words- which is a real challenge to someone as long-winded as I am.  Here is what I wrote:

"I studied at Humboldt State, and Xi'an International Studies University in Xi'an, China. I majored in International Studies concentrating in Chinese Studies. I'm currently teaching English at Xi'an Aeronautical Polytechnic Institute in China. In five years time I hope to be fully employed at a school or private company, though I do not care if it is int the United States or a foreign country. Northcentral fits perfectly into my life plan! Eight months ago I was torn between coming to China to teach English or to attend a two year Master program in Beijing. My husband said being long-distance for two years was too long, so I searched around for an online program. Now, I am teaching and working on my degree at the same time!

I believe I need to peruse the site to feel more comfortable with it. I am also concerned with acquiring textbooks internationally. I read an article today in China Daily about National Teacher's Day expressing the concern that some teachers are overcompensated for their time, this conflicts with my readings in Culture Shock: China which states that teachers are highly respected."  

It is 194 words.  I also had to write a response to another student's post, which I found problematic as I could not see anyone else's posting, so I had trouble basing what I should write off of the zero examples I had to work with.  The teacher created a fake post just so I could get credit for the response.  I was graded on both my original post and the response I wrote.  I had 75-100 words to formulate a response, and this is what I came up with.

"Ni hao, Stu Dent! That is how we say hello in China. I have often considered environment to play a large role in learning outcomes. My students are currently in a classroom that is overcrowded and cumbersome for me to navigate around, so I have been considering trying to conduct one lesson outside to see how that would work for them. Unfortunately I rely on my blackboard to convey concepts by drawings and examples, I fear I may never get to try this out with these ESL learners. I would be interested in hearing more about any findings you may have."

Technically, that was 101 words.  Bottom line is, I was assured that the post should be about ourselves, and was to help acquaint us with the online format before we would get into the more difficult projects and papers.  The 87% felt like a slap in the face!  Like, here is what I think about your shitty life story.  I noticed that other students after me were writing lengthier responses, and I can't help but wonder if sticking to the word count cost me points on the overall grade.

We'll never know.

This DID prompt me to work very hard on each assignment, and it paid off.  My scores started ootching up the scale.  And then the directions for the assignments became increasingly vague, and my interpretations were apparently not what the intended results were supposed to look like.  Also, as a first time APA writer... the format is NOT intuitive.  And, online resources give conflicting examples on what something should look like for the final product.  My final counted for 20% of my overall grade.  The teacher reminded us to take it very seriously.

I prayed that I would get a divine intervention- which is a pretty big deal for a pagan like me... there are a lot of gods and goddess to ask!

We do not actually acknowledge the deity Grilled Cheesus.
But we support your right to believe.

Suddenly, *POOF* deus ex machina!  I received an e-mail from my teacher saying that she was going on vacation and thus the duty of grading my final assignment would go to a substitute!  Sweet mother of monkey milk, this was my chance.  I put even more effort into this, and spent two whole days creating this blog (which was only half of the assignment, but the other half is too dull to post here):

http://justaquickfix.blogspot.com/2013/11/brys-motivation-inspiration.html

It is best if you read the blog with the music playing.

When my grade came in it was clear that my first teacher must have been grading me far too harshly.  I received an overall 97% on the last assignment!  As it was worth 20% of my grade in the class, I was bumped from an 88% to a 90%!  Fantastico!

Bry's grades

I feel that I should mention, during the fourth week of the program we began our second class (and are still in the process of taking this class) and I have received a 100% on all but one of these assignments.  It is clear from my grades in the second class, and Rachel's grades in both classes, that this professor who was grading all my work for the first 7 assignments in the first class was judging every aspect of the work with far too much scrutiny.

Though I was initially worried, it was clear from the beginning that my "mentor" was less of a harsh grader. Bry and I did our homework together, at the same time, often reading each other what we were writing. The amount of effort we put into our work was always the same. In fact, I frequently felt like her writing sounded more like graduate work than mine did. Nonetheless, though, our grades were vastly different. Here is my first assignment for the same class.

Hello, my name is Rachel Fix. My undergraduate work focused on International Studies and Chinese Studies. My area of specialty would have to be Chinese history. Currently, I am working in China at the Xi'an Aeronautical Polytechnic University teaching English to various majors. Five years from now I hope to see myself happily married and settled into a teaching job somewhere in the Bay Area. I am hoping that my time with Northcentral will help me round out my knowledge in the areas I've already begun filling with information about teaching English in my free time as well as prepare me for actually working in the American education system. So far, I feel very comfortable logging in to the learning portal. Beyond that everything still feels far too new. In my undergraduate studies I only took one online class and it was in my last semester. I never felt comfortable with the online setting. The two books most relevant to my goals that I have read recently would be "English the American Way" and "Culture Shock: China".

Take a look at the picture below for my grade on that assignment and the rest.

Rachel's grades

That's right! I got a 97% in my very first grad school class! Right now I'm sitting at a 4.0. I haven't had one of those since fall 2006.

Falcor!!!

Bry's Motivation & Inspiration

Hey Bry, I know you are feeling down and frankly quite lost, so I made this blog post just for you!

This is one of your favorite songs by one of your favorite bands.

Hit play and scroll on down if you want to feel better.

As The Killers say, remember you are only Human.

You have made some big changes this year.  Let's review what has happened in only these past twelve months.

*Your boss, who had been a close friend for six years, moved away.

*His replacement relied on you heavily for help, which made you feel needed and better about the changes right up until they denied you the raise you worked hard for and were promised by your previous boss.

*You accepted a teaching position at Xi'an International Polytechnic Institute because, silly you, you thought the school would be in Xi'an- the city in China where you did your study abroad and therefore everyone you knew in China ALL lived in.

*Your husband found out that he was not being rehired for the next school year.  They told him too late in the year for him to apply for the local Masters in Math Education program.

*You took on a second part-time job, as a waitress, to save money for your move to China.  Thus began a solid five weeks of working 50+ hours per week, 7 days straight with no break.

*You decided to begin an online graduate school program to work on while living in China so you can learn to teach English as a Second Language while actually teaching English as a second language.

*You had to say goodbye to all your coworkers at The Depot when the school year ended, and began working full-time as a waitress at Alice's Steak and Sushi in order to make up for the loss of the first job.

*You got your husband an accounting job at the Casino you worked for when his school year ended.  He hated the job, but loved working alongside you.

*Your little sister moved out and moved back in with your parents.  Your twin sister's boyfriend replaced your little sister as a roommate.

*You saved up money for not only your plane tickets to China, but also for the surprise 30th birthday bash for your husband.  The party went off without a hitch.  It was the biggest and best birthday of his life- except you forgot the money at home and had to put everything on your credit card.  

*You kissed your husband goodbye, and sent him to work, knowing that you would not see him again for several months- and left for China later that day.

*You arrived in China, and found out that the school was actually over an hour away from the city where all your Chinese friends lived.  Excellent.

*The spotty internet connection is now all that connects you to your entire family, which means that when your husband called three weeks ago to tell you that his father had committed suicide you could not even stay on the phone to console him.

Hey now, I know you.  These are just things that happened TO YOU in the past year.  If you think about it, your whole life has been a tragically bumpy ride, with wave after wave of misfortunes afflicting you and your loved ones, but we can't let that get you down.  Look at this happy photo now, and listen to the rest of the song.

The first time you heard that song, you were sitting in an Internet Bar in Xi'an, China, wishing you could be back in America.  Ha!  Same song, another year.

These kids are why you are going through all this trouble.

Did you finish the song?  Did the photo help calm you down and ground you?  OK, good.  Now, let's remember, together, every big accomplishment you have done so far so that getting this degree will not seem so far-fetched of an idea.

But first, let's put on another good song.

Remember to dance along with the music!

*On September 16th, 1988, you were born!  Good job!  So was your twin sister, but whatever.

This goes back a little far, so let's move ahead a few years.

*In June of 1994 you graduated from Kindergarten despite having a case of Chicken Pox!  See, you can overcome anything!

*When your family moved between Kindergarten and First Grade, you used this as an opportunity to make new friends!  Nothing can get you down, girl!

*You joined band in Fifth Grade so you could be a child prodigy like your crush, Mozart, because no one told you that that is not how being a child prodigy worked.  The fact that you were only average at the flute never stopped your enthusiasm for music and this would propel you into deciding to be a Music Major in college. 

*You had the starring role in The Wizard of Oz!  You were probably the only Dorothy to portray the role with that much childhood acne, but you remembered every line and had zero stage fright!

*You were one of the shortest girls at your Sixth Grade graduation, other than your twin Rachel, but you looked adorable in your new dress from Grandma even if you had to shave your armpits for the first time just to be able to wear it.  Puberty hit you like a truck right after that day- just in time for Middle School!

*In Seventh Grade, your skills in math (which had been declining since the year before) completely tanked.  Nothing your Dad could do seemed to help you understand pre-Algebra.  Your failings at math only made your success in English and music seem more outstanding.

*You missed a glorious month of school because of pneumonia, in Eighth Grade, and went on to develop asthma.  This caused the school, and your doctors, to force you to decide between sports and music.  How was this even a question?  Music became a serious passion of yours after this.

*You were one of the tallest girls (and boys) at the Eighth Grade graduation, and the fact that you graduated at all makes you better than Grandpa Heinrich who never finished past this grade.

*In Ninth Grade, your new band teacher saw so much potential in you that he purchased you a piccolo so you could learn and study outside of school hours.  You would play this instrument to death.  It literally no longer works.

*In Tenth Grade, you and your sister and best friend would compete in the National History Day competition for the third time, but this time your play "Irish Immigrants in America" won a blue first place ribbon at the County level and you got to go to Sacramento to compete at State!  The competition kicked your butt, but the tangible feeling of representing your nationality and school was a serious accomplishment.

*In Eleventh Grade your family was evicted and you moved schools.  The new students new nothing about you other than the fact that you were tall, blonde, and an identical twin.  This intimidated many, and forced you to come out of your shell to make friends.

*Due to the differences between your former and new school districts, you were forced to enroll in nine classes for the Eleventh Grade.  You still kept an A average.

*In Eleventh Grade, you began taking Spanish I, as one of the only upper class-men in the course, and received over 100% in the class.  This charged your desire to become a language teacher and to begin taking French the next year.

*At High School Graduation, you received the "Bank of America Foreign Language" award for taking and acing two foreign languages at the same time, and graduated with a 3.75 GPA.  You had never felt so proud!

There are a few people who helped you get to this point, namely all your relatives, but these are the most important ones.

Picture left to right: Mom, Rachel, Dad, Alia, and me!

These accomplishments feel small, but they are the building blocks that serve as motivation to the more recent accomplishments in your life.

Did you finish the last song?  Remember when Mom made you watch the movie the first time?  She pointed out how the movie was about a strong girl from Pennsylvania who would do anything to survive.  You know now that this was an allegory for her own life growing up in Pennsylvania and how she worked very hard for many years before coming to California, but back then you thought it was gross that she described the main character as sensual.  Actually, you still hate that word.  Thanks, Mom.

Here is another song you love to keep you happy!

Dancing Queen was one of your favorite songs in middle school,

Abba songs only make you miss your friends more!

Your adult accomplishments are as follows:

*Once you set your mind on attending Humboldt State University in 2006, you moved nearly all of your belongings (even the ones you probably could have left behind) up to Arcata, California to be a Music Major.

*You saw the display during tabling and joined a "FIG" (freshmen interest group) for people interested in Spanish.  It was then that you decided to change your major to International Studies, but you did not manage to officially change that for at least three years.

*You joined the school marching band, the Humboldt State University Marching Lumberjacks, and put that piccolo to use- never missing a single rehearsal or gig (both required and optional) that first semester which even won you a small "Rookie All-Star" award at the end of the year Banquet.

*You received a 3.71 GPA for your first semester, which impressed everyone!  You would never manage to recreate this success, but at least you did not drop out like most of the students in your dorm.

*You began studying Chinese in 2007, and both hated and loved that you finally encountered a foreign language that presented a challenge.  This class fueled your desire to study abroad as it made you wonder if you really did excel in languages more than the average person or if other people just did not care to apply themselves to the subject, and if the later was the case... perhaps you could develop a better method for teaching.

*You participated in your first musical during your second year, not as an actor, but you were briefly on stage as a crew member.  Mom was still proud, so you bought the DVD of the production.

*To pay for your plane ticket to China, you and Rachel got your first full-time jobs.  Working in Arcata meant that we needed to live in Arcata, so we rented out very first apartment!  We shared a room, and had no furniture.  We slept in sleeping bags on the floor and brought paper bag lunches to work with us, but we were self-sufficient for the first time (even though Grandma and Grandpa Fix paid that first month of rent)!

*After months of preparation, you and Rachel packed your bags and flew to China on  August 29th of 2008.  You actually lived in China for three amazing months and sixteen days.  You visited ancient relics, made foreign friends, and lived a great adventure in a small amount of time.  With your passion for International Studies rekindled, you returned to the USA ready to buckle down and graduate.

*You met an interesting boy, David Wellman, less than two months after returning to the United States, and less than two months after that you were officially dating.

*You joined a choir for the first time, and after making music for nearly eleven years with your flute you finally gave it a try with your mouth.  Yes, that sounds as awful as it did in your head.

*You fell in love.

*You adopted a kitten, named Figaro, at only 5 weeks old!

This was only moments after he asked you to be his girlfriend. <3

*You finally changed your major!  The change brought about new changes in your life, like joining the Chinese Club on campus, but did not stop you from performing with musical groups on campus.

*David moved in with you and your sister.

*You and Rachel and David were asked to be in a commercial for Blue Lake Casino and Hotel.  They bleached your hair and plucked your eyebrows, and paid you more than the other actors because of this.  Unlike those poor bastards who made less than you, your portion of the commercial never aired.  They essentially paid you to bleach your long beautiful hair and make you pretty for one day.  Someday you'll get those 15 minutes of fame.

The director took this photo! I know we always hated the one-shoulder look,

but the curly hair really balances the look.

You had no idea then that he wanted to marry you!

*You adopted a second cat together so that the first one wouldn't be lonely, but if we're being honest... you really wanted another kitten.  These two cats are your life!

*David proposed!

You are still wearing that ring!

So matchy-matchy it makes you cringe, but he loves it!

*You had a hundred of these ordered so they could be your Save The Date cards for your "Christmas in July" themed wedding.  You have a large stack at home still because you only sent out a few.  Who cares, it is still one of the best dang photos of you two that exists.  And, though it took a dozen tries, it was free because you used the timer on the camera.

Th other shoppers thought you were nuts, 

but it was worth it for this photo. 

*The big plans you had had for two weddings fell through, and David made you choose.  One nice wedding, or one nice honeymoon?  Honeymoon!  Of course!  So you had the best wedding of anyone ever.

You got married as the finale of the Marching Lumberjacks Spring Concert.

It was free, and totally worth it.

*David graduated, which made you so proud, but also fueled your hate fire.  You should have graduated by now.  So, it made you buckle down and work very hard for the next year so you could graduate!

"Congrats on beating me to graduation, babe."

*David began the teaching credential program in 2011, and you started working for the Depot as a cashier.  You had tried to be a cashier before at another job, but failed so much that they made you a lifeguard instead.  This time, you became the best cashier the joint had!  Well, one of, you really loved all those girls you got to work with.

You were an excellent cashier, fantastic beer wench, and a mediocre barista.

Can't win them all.

Your hard work paid off!  You worked for a whole year, and finished off your degree in International Studies with a concentration in Chinese studies.  Congratulations!  It took six years, but you did it!  In those six years you changed your major, your grandmothers both died, you did a study abroad, your dog died during said study abroad, your friend commit suicide also during the same study abroad,and when your long-term relationship ended while you were also on said study abroad (Longest three months of your life!) and you thought life could not possibly get harder for you- you returned to your family to heal.  It was then that you finally let love in.  Real love!

Rachel, Brooke, and you!  Friends for life!  For the herd!

College life to the right, everyone else please exit to the real world on the left.

I know you need some direction now, so listen up!

Remember that you are strong.

 You have had a hard life, so you, more than most, can understand when things go wrong that it isn't the universe out to get you.  Life is unfair to everyone.

But you made this choice!  You know the life you want to have.  The husband, the two cats, the two children (soon enough), and the wonderful job you want are all back in the United States waiting for you!

You will grin and bear your time here in China.  The work is frustrating, and not what you expected- which in the end should be exactly what you expected since life has always thrown curve balls our way.

Maybe you do not believe me that you will succeed in this endeavor, but you know there are people who DO believe in you!  This is only the next year of your life, and you have already accomplished so much and come so far from the wee thing who went to a bilingual Kindergarten to teaching English in China!  Let's end this motivational speech with a bang, and measure your next year in love!

Remember, you are only in China for one year.

Your husband and best friends want you to finish your degree!

You cannot start the MLJ  Graduate Degree Club 

with Wesley if you don't get that degree!

Suzie is living in New Zealand with Maighdlyn,

she understand the pain of not being in America.

Remember when you were the only one to dress in drag at Alejandro's birthday?

Everyone still accepted you for the weirdo you are.

Wesley and LC want you to get your degree so you can

start that summer camp together!

Sarah wants you to finish your degree so you can come

back to American and have fun together!

David knows that if you can throw HIM a surprise 30th birthday party,

that graduate school is going to be a piece of well deserved cake,

Danny, your brother-in-law, just wants you to come back to America

so you can throw more awesome parties like David's birthday.

Brooke wants you to finish school and come back to America

so you can play more Dungeon and Dragons!

Caitlin wants you to come back with a degree so she is not the only

person you know with a Master degree.  And then you can

go to Disneyland together!

Alia, your little sister, wants you to get this degree so you

can shut up about it already!

Your whole family wants you to get this degree so you can have a better life!

Matt is getting his graduate degree, too, send him

a message if you get overwhelmed!

You need to make the women in your life proud!

Never forget he loves you, and supports you.

These girls will always look up to you!

And your family will always have your back!

Because they are just as excited for this as you are!

So enjoy this year, and remember what is waiting for you at home!

Both of your families want you to finish this degree!

You'll be doing this again before you know it.

He's always there to hold your hand through the hard times.

So relax, have fun in China, and finish up that degree!

You'll be back in America before you know it!

You know this is all going to be worth it.

Ready?

Go get 'em, Bry!

Rachel's Motivational Touchstone

Hit play!

Alright, Rachel, let's be honest... Sometimes things can get a little crazy. Or hectic, as you have just recently taught your students. And just to be really clear, I know you. We've been together a long time. If we were married, we'd have just celebrated our silver wedding anniversary. Nobody knows better than me, then, just how likely you are to give up or freeze when times start getting tough. Grad school is going to be tough but with a little motivation, we can get through it!

Some days you just feel like feeling sorry for yourself all day would be the most
productive thing you could accomplish. I get that.

I remember what we used to be like. It used to be that we couldn't even speak for fear of hearing our own voice. Talk about ridiculous. Remember how much this song used to mean to you? For a couple of months this song used to be the only thing that helped you fall asleep at night. Now, six years later, you can hear it and think back to how difficult those times were but also look back at all you managed to accomplish anyway. We're awesome, remember??? At 25 you are sitting in your very plain, and fairly cold, Chinese living room because you graduated college and got yourself a full time teaching position in China! How many other people can say that?!

.....................

Well, Bry can... because she came with us. I guess two out of 7 billion isn't too shabby, though. If you've wandered back here several months or years after creating this post, you could probably stand to hear this song again. I get it. Times get difficult and you and I both know that we find the most comfort in listening to something that will maybe make you cry all the while singing loudly along with it. Go ahead and finish the song, probably through tears, and take the next few minutes to clean up around you. (I know you. I know that if you're coming here again that you've probably let yourself get so overwhelmed that you haven't cleaned in a few days. Or weeks...)

Finished? Are you ready for some motivation that only you can provide?

Hit play!

Let's take a took at all the things that you've accomplished!

One day, probably waaaaay back in 1989, you got jealous of your sister and finally took your first steps!

What? Okay, I guess you're right. That's going back a bit far. 

In third grade, 1996, you saw that nobody was friends with the new girl. You decided that you would be friends with her. It wasn't a long friendship, but from that moment forward you always tried to make friends with anyone you saw that was alone. Despite being very shy yourself, you always managed to overcome that in order to make someone else's day.

In fifth grade, 1998, you struggled with homework. It's not that you couldn't do it but rather that you didn't seem to be able to find the motivation to turn it in once it was finished. This led to you almost being held back. With the thought of being a grade behind your twin sister in your mind, you spent the entire summer working hard on making up homework and managed to prevent yourself from getting held back! Woo-hoo! 

In seventh grade, 2001, you weren't very good at math. You were devastated when you found out that you had to repeat pre-algebra, but, if it wasn't for retaking that class in eighth grade, you might not have made it all the way to Trig before graduating high school. 

Also in seventh grade, you competed in track. You have never been athletic, we know that. And you only joined because Bry wanted to spend more time with a certain boy who had joined the team as well. But even after she had to drop out, you continued competing. You would never again participate in a sport after this year, but you did manage to get your scrawny, gangly-ass a few ribbons in shot-put. 

Third place is better than nothing!

In eighth grade, 2002, you graduated middle school. This may only seem like a minor accomplishment, but at the time you were very excited because, as your mother had told you a hundred times, your grandfather had only made it that far in school before having to drop out. It was at this point in your life that you first got a taste of what it is like to know that you are more educated than someone else in your family. (Although, by the time you had graduated he had been dead for two years.)

In ninth grade, 2002-2003, you had perfect attendance. You did it in the hopes of trying to win a car, which would have been pointless anyway, but you did end up winning $75! You were one of less than ten students in the entire school of some 400 students who managed to have perfect attendance that year.

This same year, you put aside your debilitating shyness and joined choir. You never wanted to be a rock star, but you did learn to sing on perfect pitch. If you hadn't gotten over your shyness you would never have gone on to sing your three favorite pieces of music later in college. (But more on that to follow!)

In tenth grade, 2003-2004, you had perfect attendance. You did it in the hope of getting ANY sort of recognition, but the new leadership at school had done away with the program you participated in the year before. You ended up having perfect attendance for no other reason than the ability to say you did it. Not what you'd been looking for, but still an achievement.

This same year you competed in History Day. You had done so in 7th and 8th grade as well, but this year was different. This year you were actually fairly good. This year you managed to make it out of the county and into the state-wide competition! You lost horribly there, but you did get the chance to say you'd gotten to go to state for anything at all, stay in a hotel for the weekend, and brag at your school that you'd gotten somewhere in a competition. You wrote an entire script for a ten minute play, did extensive research (before the internet was super helpful), and learned how to do an Irish accent. Did I mention the shiny ribbon they gave you?

Getting to go to Sacramento was pretty cool, too.

In eleventh grade, 2004-2005, you had to transfer schools and leave behind all of your friends. You managed to not only make new friends, but to go on to get excellent grades and become student of the month your very first month! You continued to sing in choir and became a much better singer. You would never go on to sing a solo, but your teacher, Mr. Aiken, could see how talented of a singer you were. You had felt like a failure at music for a long time after giving up the flute after fifth grade, but in eleventh grade you began to feel good about music again.

In twelfth grade, 2005-2006, you could have taken less classes at school but you chose to take a full schedule. Not only that, but you gleefully CHOSE to take hard classes, too. You took:

Honors Civcs/Econ
Honors English 12
Choir
Chemistry
Spanish 3
Trigonometry
French 1

All of the other students thought you were crazy. A science class, a math class, two honors classes and two language classes. WHAT??? Yeah. And you know what? You rocked at it, too! You graduated senior year with an A+, four A's and two C's. Okay, you weren't great at civics or chemistry. But, realistically, something had to give somewhere. There's a lesson to remember.

In November 2005, you were accepted into all four colleges you applied to!

In June 2006, you graduated high school!

Remember how Aunt Kim's car briefly broke down and you almost didn't make it?

Remember how we listened to this album all year after 

we'd finally gotten sick of Hot Fuss? Hit play!

In August 2006, you began your first semester of college!

At the time you had a hard time imagining life after high school, but nothing much really changed initially.

In the first week of classes, without any real experience, you joined a marching band!

I could have used a less terrible picture, but I'm guessing this one made you laugh.

Your first semester of college you got all A's! You'd never gotten all A's!!!!!!!!

In spring 2007, you took your first Chinese class! At last you had found a language that challenged you. You didn't do as well as you'd hoped and that fired your passion to change your major from music (which was always a mistake, let's be honest) to International Studies concentrating in Chinese Studies.

Later in 2007, you applied to be a part of the group of students that were going to study abroad in Xi'an, China (a city you'd never heard of) and found out several months later that you'd been accepted!

In February 2008, your friend Kaia made you sit in on her University Singer's rehearsal and you got to hear Mozart's Requiem (one of your favorite pieces of music) sung live. You were so surprised that you almost cried. Kaia asked Harley if you could join the class and he said yes! You got to live out your first dream. You went on to sing with that group until graduation years later.

In April 2008, you starred in a college short film about zombies and played the gothic zombie daughter named Ash. You were incredibly nervous but the video was probably awesome (you wouldn't know for sure until it was finally put onto youtube some... four or five years later).

Gothic zombie, what a concept.

In May 2008, you got your first apartment! You moved out of the dorms, and out of your parent's house, and moved into an adorable townhouse that would never be clean again from that day forward.

Also in May 2008, you began your very first full time job! Not until this year, 2013, would you have another. You worked 40 hours a week cleaning dorms in order to pay rent, bills and afford plane tickets to China.

In August 2008, you flew to China! You lived there for three and a half glorious months and barely learned any of the language. An incredible feat.

You did learn that China is a big fan of tiny, tall stairs in all
reaches of society. Buildings. Mountains.

In spring 2009, you got to go on tour with the University Singers. It was just several days of epic fun. You felt like a rock star!

And you got to play miniature golf with your professor!

In May 2009, you made a terrible judgement call that was a wonderful turning point in several lives. You decided it would be a great idea to adopt a kitten even though your apartment complex didn't allow pets AND you are allergic. Terrible idea. Turned out great.

When you miss him being tiny, remember that he was a terror before he was a year old.

At the beginning of the summer of 2009, you worked up the courage to text your biggest crush and ended up becoming very good friends with him after not talking for two years. Later that summer you tricked him into being your date to your best friend's wedding. By December, you managed to convince him to date you!

Seven years earlier he was your first slow dance. 

June 2010, you were requested to be in a commercial. You didn't try out, you were asked for specifically!

And they paid you to get pampered!

Summer 2010, you adopted another cat. Fantastic decision even if you protested it.

Frankie!

Summer 2010, you lost your financial aid eligibility and had to spend the next two semesters trying to earn it back. You had fallen into bad habits at school and, even though at the time it felt like the worst thing in the world, this was probably the only reason you actually managed to pull off graduating college.

February 27, 2011, you began working at Bed Bath and Beyond. It was your first job working without Bry. Initially you were super nervous about it, but you ended up rocking at it and stayed for two and a half years!

You rocked at that job!

Summer 2011 you found out that you'd be able to continue going to HSU!

August 2011, you began taking classes at HSU again.

In all of 2012, you had perfect attendance again! It was hard but you actually pulled it off.

In May 2012, you walked. Technically you weren't graduated, but that wasn't important in the moment.

Don't lie, this is your favorite picture from that day!

In December 2012, you actually finished college but with much less pomp and circumstance. Even still, an incredible feat!

In March 2013, you signed a contract saying that you would teach English in China at the Xi'an Aeronautical Polytechnic Institute.

In August 2013, you had your last day of work at Bed Bath and Beyond, said goodbye to everyone you love, and flew to China to begin your year of work abroad.

Next time, maybe less luggage?

In September 2013, you began grad school. Several years ago you would have thought this an impossible feat.

And now, here you are! Sitting on your Chinese couch writing this blog as a homework assignment for grad school. You rock! Look at all you've accomplished! You are amazing! Grad school may get hard, but just keep coming back to this blog to remember how much you have accomplished.

If life is getting you down for reasons other than just school, then THIS is the blog post you should be looking at to cheer you up.

Just remember that you are very, very loved and that you are awesome even when you don't feel like you are. Never give up.

It's only a little bit longer until Steven visits. It's only a little bit longer until you get to come home. It's only a little bit longer until you see your family again. It's only a little bit longer until you finish your degree. Just remember to keep trying.

Remember that people love you. 

And remember to never give up.